Friday, July 28, 2017

Coming Soon: Pollinators Stamps

On August 3, the U.S. Postal Service pays tribute to the beauty and importance of pollinators with stamps depicting two of our continent’s most iconic, the monarch butterfly (Danaus plexippus) and the western honeybee (Apis mellifera), each shown industriously pollinating a variety of plants native to North America.The stamps from top left to right feature a monarch and a coneflower (photo by Karen Mayford); a monarch and a zinnia (photo by Bonnie Sue Rauch); a monarch and a goldenrod (photo by Justin Fowler); a western honeybee and a golden ragwort (photo by George D. Lepp); and in the second row, the second image from the left, a western honeybee and a New England aster (photo by Michael Durham). The remaining stamps in this pane of 20 are showcased in a scattered arrangement reminiscent of a field of wildflowers. The selvage photograph features a monarch and a goldenrod — a different view of the same two species depicted on one of the stamps (photo by Justin Fowler).